Baled straw shredder



March 18, 1952 m E. u. WHITACRE 2,590,056

BALED STRAW SHREDDER Filed June 25, 1949 He. 5 Fus. A-

INVEN TOR. ERNEST uwm-mcae ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BALED STRAW SHREDDER Ernest U. Whitacre, Salem, Ohio Application June 25, 1949, Serial No. 101,475

This invention relates to shredding devices and moreparticularly to a shredding or loosening apparatus for shredding a pressed bale of straw or the like.

One object of the present invention is to provide a device which will mechanically disintegrate compressed bales into a loose or shredded form.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device of the character described which is compact in construction and efficient in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a bale shredder embodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the shredder, partly in section, taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the secondary shaft assembly taken through the web portion thereof.

Fig. 4 is a view, similar to Fig. 3, but taken through one of the fingers of the secondary shaft assembly.

In order to attain the objects hereinbefore set forth, my apparatus is provided with an inclined feed table along which the bale of material to be disintegrated is fed. A revolving drum having a plurality of radially extendingcircumferentially spaced elements is effective to initially shred the bale and carry it forward into the path of movement of a second group of revolving shredding elements which coact with the first-named elements to complete the shredding operation and discharge the loosened material.

In the drawings, I have illustrated a preferred form of the invention which embodies the abovementioned principles of operation.

A sturdy frame is provided, consisting of parallel fiat horizontal steel bars or members i, which serve as a footing. for the apparatus, and spaced steel uprights which are secured to said members. One pair of uprights 2 is disposed near the forward end of the apparatus and each upright 2 has a right angled flange portion 3 at one end thereof, which flange portions rest on the members I and are secured thereto by fastening means 4.

A second pair of uprights 5 is disposed near the 1 Claim. (Cl. 241-154) rearward end of the apparatus and each of the uprights 5 has a right angle flange portion 6 at one end thereof which flange portions rest on the members I and are secured thereto by the fastening means 4. The uprights 5 are substantially longer than the uprights 2'.

In order to add rigidity to the frame structure, a tie-rod l is disposed between the uprights 2 and is secured to the uprights by means of nuts 8. A cross member 9 which is in the form of a fiat steel bar is likewise disposed across the uprights 5 at their upper extremities, fastening means lfl being used to securev the cross-member.

Intermediate the ends of the uprights'S; and at a horizontal level below the level of the upper extremities of the uprights 2. is mounted an angle bar I I, which is secured across the uprights 5'by means of fastening means 12. One leg I3 of the angle bar is disposed at an obtuse angle to'the other leg of the angle bar, and as will hereinafter more fully appear, the leg l3 serves as a ledge or support for one end of the feed table.

The feed table 14 is formed of two side members IE, to the underside of which are secured,

as by welding, longitudinally spaced transversecross-bars l6. One end of the side members l5 rests on the leg I 3 of angle bar II, and intermediate their ends, the side members are secured to the upper end of the uprights 2, as at ll.

The frame thus formed serves to support the bed N3 of the feed table, which may be formed of a plurality of wooden boards 20 disposed in edge-to-edge relationship and secured to crossbars It by bolts IS.

The feed table l4 thus is inclined to the horizontal and extends downwardly from the feed end to the discharge end of the apparatus.

'- Mounted on the lower end of the feed table is a sheet metal housing 2| having two vertical side walls 22 and a top wall 23. A partial rear wall 24 is provided which is bent outwardly to form the top wall 25 of a casing or guard 26 having depending side walls 21. The front of the housing 2| is open. The sheet metal structure of the housing 2i and the guard 26 is reinforced by edge strips 28 of steel which are secured to the sheet metal by spot welding or the like.

On the uprights 5 are mounted aligned journal blocks 29 through which extends a rotatable shaft 30. Secured to the shaft 30 for rotation therewith is a drum 31 having aplurality of metal fingers 32 projecting radially therefrom. The fingers 32 may be secured to the drum by We d ng.

The fingers 32 are spaced from each other both longitudinally and circumferentially and in the embodiment illustrated, thirty-six fingers are used forming four spiral rows of nine fingers in each row, as best seen in Fig. 2.

The spiral arrangement of the fingers 32 on the drum 3| results in a uniform work load on the shaft 30 so that sudden strains on the shaft are avoided, as would occur were the fingers in each row in alignment.

The shaft 30 and the drum 3| are so positioned relatively to the feed table l4 that during rotation thereof, the extremities of the fingers 32 are slightly elevated above the level of the bed l8 of the feed table.

To the uprights are also secured brackets 33, as by fastening means 34, and on the brackets are mounted another pair of aligned journal blocks 29 through which extends a rotatable shaft 35. The shaft 35 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverse openings in which are secured, as by welding, short rods forming fingers 36 which project from diametrically opposite portions of the shaft.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the fingers 36 are so spaced as to rotate in vertical planes which are intermediate the planes in which the fingers 32 rotate. Further, the distance between centers of shafts 30 and is such the orbits of rotation of the fingers 32 and 36 intersect or overlap so that the fingers can be said to mesh.

Between adjacent fingers 36 is provided a sheet metal web 31 which may be secured to the shaft 35 or to the fingers 36 as by welding.

The shaft 30 is driven by an electric motor 38 which is mounted beneath the feed table l4 on cross-bars 39 which are secured across the memhers I. A double sheave 39 is mounted on the motor shaft and a larger double sheave 40 is mounted on one end of the shaft 30. Power is transmitted from the motor by means of V-belts 4| which are trained over the sheaves.

On the other end of shaft 30 is mounted a sheave 42 which transmits rotation through V- belt 43 to a sheave 44 mounted on one end of shaft 35. Rotation of the shafts 30 and 35 is maintained 'counter-clockwisa. as viewed in Fig. 1.

In the operation of the apparatus, the bale of straw or the like. which is to be loosened is placed onthe feed table l4, which, due to its inclination, causes the' bale to move toward the revolving fingers 32. The fingers 32 tear into the compressed straw causing it to be loosened. The majority of the loosened straw will be discharged from the open end of the housing 2|, however, some of the bale may be impaled in clumps on the fingers 32 and tend to be carried around by the fingers.

In the latter case, the rotating fingers 36 which are moving in a direction opposite to the fingers 32 with which they mesh, cause the clumps to be shredded and dislodged from the fingers 32, the web 3! serving to assist in the dislodging operation as well as to push the straw toward the discharge opening.

'As the loosened straw is discharged from the device, the bale keeps feeding into the fingers until the bale has been completely disintegrated.

In order to prevent the bale from being fed through the apparatus at such speed that efficient shredding would not take place, such as would occur if the bale were dragged underneath the drum 3|, it is desirable to provide a stop or abutment 45 at the end of the feed table. The stop may take the form of a strip of metal having projections 46 extending upwardly therefrom into the path of movement of the baled material.

Such an abutment retards the movement of the bale sufficiently to permit the fingers 32 to do a complete job of shredding the bale.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a compact bale loosening apparatus which will by gravity feed a bale into the shredding fingers and efficiently cause the bale to be disintegrated. Adequate means are provided for preventing incomplete shredding of the bale and means are also provided to retard the feeding movement of the bale sufficiently to allow time for the fingers to be fully effective.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a bale shredding device of the character described, the combination of a plurality of shredding elements carried by a horizontal rotatable shaft, a second horizontal rotatable shaft disposed in parallelism with said first-named shaft, a plurality of shredding elements carried by said second shaft, said last-named shredding elements comprising rods extending diametrically through said second-named shaft and a solid web, of smaller radial dimension than said rods, extending across said rods, the orbit of rotation of said first-named elements intersecting the orbit of rotation of said rods, angularly inclined means for feeding a bale toward said first-named elements, said means extending at least partly below said first-named elements, and impaling means secured to said inclined feed means at the lower end thereof in the path of movement of said bale to arrest said bale at a position underlying said first-named shredding elements.

ERNEST U. WHITACRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 4,172 Richardson Sept. 2, 1845 295,819 Savits Mar. 25, 1884 513,911 Gaither Jan. 30, 1894 626,042 Tunstill May 30, 1899 775,942 Sitter Nov. 29, 1904 1,258,370 Sooter et al. Mar. 5, 1918 1,419,407 Pardee June 13, 1922 1,501,282 Kost July 5, 1924 1,918,917 Kopriner July 18, 1933 1,925,618 Wetmore Sept. 5, 1933 2,145,728 Mankoff Jan. 31, 1939 2,241,667 Mankoff May 13, 1941 2,279,219 Baker Apr. 7, 1942 2,400,263 Rusch May 14, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 273,499 GreatBritain July 7, 1927 480,808 Germany Aug. 9,1929 

